Show us your unproduced masterpiece!
At FAVA, we want to celebrate film writing talent in our community, which is why in 2021, we launched our first ever Emerging Screenwriters Grant. Whether you are finally putting that winning idea to paper, or digging out an old draft you never quite finished, we’re here to encourage you to take that next step! Our third annual Next Draft submission period is next.
Submission Period: August 1st – December 1st, 2023
Costs:
- $10 /Script for members
- $20 /Script for non-members
SUBMISSIONS
HOW IT WORKS
Please fill out the contact form on this page and attach your script(s). We advise that you include a synopsis (max 700 characters) and indicated a short section of the script that you feel best represents the film (max 20-pages). This is due to time constraints; jurors are not required to read every submission in full. Once you submit, our programming manager will contact you with an invoice for your submission(s). The cost to submit is $10 per script for FAVA Members, $20 per script for non-members. Submissions that are not paid for will not be evaluated by the jury; the deadline to pay for your script is one week after the submission deadline.
PRIZES
- Selected Feature Film Script (50 page minimum.): $500
- Selected Short Film Script (under 50 pages): $250
- A one-on-one feedback session
All submissions will receive some feedback from the jury, but only winning scripts will receive a one-on-one feedback session and an annotated script.
Scripts must follow industry-standard formatting, include a title page and be submitted as a PDF. If you are not certain what industry-standard format looks like, please review THIS PAGE.
ELIGIBILITY
For the purposes of this grant, Emerging Screenwriters are defined as individuals who have not previously had a screenplay produced by a third party or production company. All submissions will receive some feedback from the jury, but only winning scripts will receive a one-on-one feedback session and an annotated script. Screenwriters who have self-produced their work in the past are welcome to apply. Screenwriters can submit a short and a feature script, but will only be eligible to win in one category (if both are worthy, preference will be given to the feature). If you submitted in previous years and didn’t win, we welcome you to submit an updated draft of your script; previous Next Draft winning scripts are not eligible. Only those residing in Alberta are eligible.
Submission Form:
Submissions for the 3rd Annual Next Draft are open from August 1st to December 1st, 2023.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2021
SHORT FILM – “Mars Landing” by Aaron Langvand
Synopsis: A space obsessed teen who suffers from a terminal illness bonds with a space sciences graphic designer to fulfill his dream of landing on Mars.
FEATURE FILM – “Giant Panda” by Norton Mah
Synopsis: Jia Ying, a stubborn, educated, female animal rights activist and Li Qianga, a blue collar, working class male cop team up to capture and rein in a gentle yet astronomically destructive “GIANT” Panda before institutions like the Police or Bureaucracy can do any harm towards said animal. An epic Man vs. Nature struggle set in contemporary Hong Kong.
2022
SHORT FILM – “Fair Folk” by Sarah Clarke
Synopsis: After Olivia and her husband relocate to a remote acreage, she’s excited to begin a new, solitary life, but when a series of strange events lead Olivia to believe she may not actually be alone, she is forced to confront her desire for isolation and decide if it’s really what she needs.
FEATURE FILM – “Amateur Blues” by Margaret Field
Synopsis: Four middle-aged women decide to enter a local bar’s Battle of the Bands competition. Unfortunately, none of them are musicians.
FINALISTS –
Short Finalist: “The Bees Sting” by Gregory McCosham
Feature Finalists: “Surrender” by Sonja Jarrett, “The Gorge” by Warren Cowell, and “Friends With Tax Benefits” by Maya Appavoo
